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| Me with a pained look on my face as I neared the finish line in the Grimsby Casablanca 8 km. |
My head hurts.
I have a small bump and scratch on it that stings. It's not from any battle wound I earned running the Grimsby Casablanca 8 km run today. Nope, it's from rubbing Louie's belly.
Louie, who arrived in my life as a stray this spring, has taken up residency in our garage. After getting home from the race today, he was here to greet me and came into the garage for belly rubs. As he rolled around rapturously while I obliged, he knocked over a broom whose sharp metal end bonked me on the forehead. Hands went straight from a soft, warm belly to the agonizing pain above my left eye.
Ah Louie. It wouldn't be lovin' without getting hurt. It only makes sense I got a congratulatory injury from him. It matches the one he gave me for good luck before the race.
As I set off along the North Service Road in Grimsby this foggy, cool morning — the kind that leaves a damp chilly film on everything — I did so with the deep impression of two of Louie's fangs in my arm.
The little guy came inside for some warmth last weekend, only to be agitated through our patio door by the neighbourhood bruiser, Bruce. Though it could be Brenda. Hard to tell. All I know is that this bully of a cat has Louie's number and when I reached for my little bud to quell the mournful, threatening yowls, I wound up with two teeth firmly implanted in my forearm, a prescription for antibiotics and a visit from the health unit to prove that Lou is not a frothing-at-the-mouth menace to society.
It was my little reminder of why I'm running these monthly road races — a reminder I needed this morning at the six-and-a-half kilometre mark when I felt like my chest was going to explode and I was burping up the mango smoothie I polished off on the drive from St. Catharines to Grimsby.
I crossed the finish line with a time of 49:32 after a loop through the gorgeous Fifty Point Conservation Area. I'm feeling good about that time though I have no other eight-kilometre race performances to compare to. Thanks to my pal Monique Beech for coming out and joining my husband Steve to cheer me on as I crossed the finish line.
I'm also feeling optimistic about hitting my fundraising goal of $1,000 for the Lincoln County Humane Society's low-cost spay/neuter clinic. So far people have donated $320. The generosity has been amazing and coming from some surprising places: mostly people I hardly know or strangers, including a contender for city councillor, who heard about my cause in the Twitterverse and collected $110 at what really should have been his victory party.
Thank you so much to everyone who has given so far. Your donations are being put to good use and the tax receipts are in the mail.
Next up, the Resolution Run, a five-kilometre jaunt on New Year's Eve when I will resolve to keep up my training through the long, cold winter. No easy feat for someone who finds it so easy to hibernate on the couch in pajamas any chance I get.
